FAA to review air traffic safety incident with Trump Marine One in Washington

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is examining an air traffic safety event from Tuesday that involved a military helicopter transporting President Donald Trump, according to the agency.

"The FAA is investigating a safety incident involving Marine One but it did not appear to be a dangerous close call and the aircraft were not apparently converging," the FAA said.

Trump's Marine One helicopter departed from the White House on Tuesday afternoon, yet air traffic controllers did not stop commercial flights at nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport as required by a policy established last year after a deadly collision, according to two sources.

The Wall Street Journal initially reported the event.

Trump's helicopter rose from the Ellipse near the White House around 2:33 p.m. (1833 GMT) en route to Joint Base Andrews for a journey to Los Angeles, per a pool report.

FAA limited helicopter flights after 2025 tragedy

A source indicated that Envoy Air 3742, a regional E170 jet heading to Pensacola, Florida, left at 2:34 p.m. and took part in the apparent separation loss with Marine One. Envoy operates as a subsidiary of American Airlines and offered no immediate response.

FAA guidelines call for aircraft to stay at least 1.5 miles apart horizontally and 500 feet vertically near airports. The sources noted that Marine One and the jet seemed to lose required separation, though one added they did not appear to be approaching each other.

Both the helicopter and the jet reached their destinations without further issues.

Two sources mentioned the FAA plans to form a Safety Review Team for the event. The White House offered no immediate comment.

Another regional flight, Republic 4700, was three miles from Reagan at the time and was directed to circle as a precaution, the second source said. The Republic Embraer 175 flying for American had come from Raleigh Durham and circled the airport before landing at 2:52 p.m., based on FlightAware data.

The FAA set permanent limits on helicopter activity around Reagan National Airport following a fatal January 2025 mid air collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter that claimed 67 lives.

The National Transportation Safety Board cited multiple systemic FAA shortcomings in January that contributed to the crash, including the agency's choice to permit helicopters near the airport without proper separation measures from planes.

Since the accident, the FAA has prohibited mixed helicopter and jet operations around the airport, and commercial flights are usually paused when Marine One flies nearby. In March the FAA ended the use of visual separation for helicopter traffic near major airports.

FAA air traffic control normally receives at least three minutes notice before Marine One departs to pause traffic from Reagan.